Her Life
by princess1
Summary: Slightly AU-ish. Now Mo may read Ressa into the Inkheart but who else went in. Has Elinor always been the way she is. I know I'm not good at summaries but please read. First Chapter is short but the next ones will be longer.
1. Prologue

Elinor Loredan sighed as she looked around her kitchen. Besides herself the only other person in the kitchen was Darius. She knew he liked her and she liked him too but not in that way. Her heart only truly belonged to two people, her husband and daughter, and she hadn't seen either of them in twelve years.


	2. Meeting Elliot

A/N I own nothing, though I wish I did. Elinor is my creation but Elliot is. I think the books were set in 2000 and I believe Elinor was about 50 when the books began, leaving her birth date as 1950. This however is only my opinion, with dates used for this story.

May 1966

"Hey, look there's the bookworm." The petite red headed teen, Sandra, whispered to her blonde best friend, Pamela. Neither of them had ever been nice to Elinor, not that she had ever cared, when you love books more than boys it is to be expected.

"I know she's so weird." The red head began again.

"Yeah. I mean maybe if she dropped the book thing she could be popular."

" Like that would happen."

The two girls looked at each other and began to laugh, the idea of Elinor giving up books was like the idea of people giving up air.

"It might shock you to know but this bookworm has ears and uses them quite well."

Both girls turned around shock written all over there faces. They had, obviously, heard Elinor talk before but never to them directly. Most of the time Elinor just ignored them when they commented on her, but she was finally becoming annoyed with them.

"You talk!"

"Of course I do. Now I must ask you to leave."

"Under what authority?"

"Under the authority of Mrs. Anderson who has gone on her lunch break and left me in charge."

" Come on Pam, let's go, who needs a bookworm and her library?" Said Sandra as she took her friends arm and steered her towards the Cafeteria.

To some the exchange might seem harsh but to Elinor it was normal. She was protecting the books like an animal would protects it's young, it was instinct. And she knew that no one in her school, especially Pamela and Sandra, cared about the books or the library for that matter.

As she walked behind the library desk and sat down she smiled; almost no one came in the library when Elinor was aiding. Even some of the teachers were afraid of her. She reached into her oversized bag as the clock read noon and pulled out her old copy of "Pride and Prejudiced", despite it's lack of violence it was one of Elinors favorites.

She was at the best part when she heard the library doors open and close. '_It has to be a student. Mrs. Anderson doesn't get back from her brake until around 1. Whoever it is must be new, at least he hasn't heard of me yet. Unless it's those two idiots. Well whoever it is will soon know who I am._' To be completely honest Elinor pitied whichever student it was who decided to interrupt her reading. As Elinor put her book down she was prepared to yell but was quite shocked when the teen was standing in front of the desk.

He was a good-looking man, if you could call a sixteen-year-old a man, he had dark brown hair and his eyes were the exact same color. He seemed quite tall for his age, if had lifted up his hand he would have easily touched the ceiling of any room in the entire library. His only flaw were his glasses, but to be honest Elinor found them attractive.

'_Oh stop it Elinor, he wouldn't be interested in a bookworm like you. Besides this could easily be a joke. How many people besides you and Mrs. Anderson walk into this library?_'

Despite her reservations Elinor forced herself to talk civilly to him, his good looks had left all of her bad attitude to strangers melt away. "What can I help you with?"

"Well I'm looking for a book."

"Well which one?"

"Well I don't know..."

"You don't know?! What do you mean you don't know?!" Elinor had begun to become angry at the boy but this really annoyed her. '_What kind of idiot comes into a library not knowing what he wants'_

"Whoa! You don't have to get mad. I meant I don't really know what kind of books I like. Usually Mrs. Anderson gives me suggestions and I thought since she wasn't hear maybe I could ask you. But if you're going to get all hysterical on me I won't."

'_Wait a second Elinor. Backtrack. Maybe I judged him a bit fast. Could there be one good looking guy who actually likes to read?'_

"Oh sorry about that. It's just that we don't usually get a lot of people in here who actually like to read."

"Don't you?"

"No, we don't. Are you new here."

"Yep. Just transferred here from Phillips High."

"So what kind of books do you read?"

] "Don't you think that's a kind of question that should come later. I mean I don't even know your name."

"I'm Elinor." she said extending her hand

"Well I'm Elliot." he said shaking her hand "What do you think of that, Elliot and Elinor?"

A/N - Hope you liked it, see I told you the second chapter would be longer. If you like it or have any ideas please review.


	3. Fourth Anniversary

A/N - Another Chapter, YAY! Again I own nothing, I wish I did, well I guess I do own Elliot.

May 1970

The alarm clock read 6:50 pm. "Oh crap, I'm going to be late." This was Elinor and Elliot's fourth year anniversary date and she was going to be late. Running around her room Elinor thought of all the things she had to do '_Okay you've got to put on your makeup, do your hair, find your shoes, get down stairs, say bye to daddy and be outside in ten minutes, it's hopeless._'

Elinor didn't know where to start so she began with the simplest thing she could think of, finding her shoes, or at least what she thought to be the simplest. After five minutes of searching her room she still couldn't find the shoes that went with the dress she had picked.

That was when she heard two knocks simultaneously, one on her bed room door and one on the main door. She knew who were at both doors. "Annie, could you go downstairs and let Elliot in?" She yelled from in her closet. "Sure thing." Came the reply from Elinor's sister, Annie.

In the time it took Annie to let Elliot in, Elinor had again searched her room and all she could find was her pair of tennis shoes.

"Elinor! I let him in."

"Thanks Annie, where is he?"

"With dad." Said Annie casually as she walked in the room.

"What?! You let dad see him?" For the past four years Elinor had avoided letting Elliot meet her father and for good reason. Alexander Loredan was not know for being the nicest man, even to his family, but he especially hated boyfriends. Once he ran over one of Annie's boyfriend with his wheel chair while everyone was standing there. And now Annie left Elliot alone with him. Elinor knew this wouldn't turn out good. "What were you thinking?"

"I don't know. He wanted to talk to dad about something."

"Really?" Why would Elliot want to talk to her father, she had told him how awful Alexander was and know he wanted to meet him?"

"If I were you I would get downstairs as fast as I could."

"I would but look at me." Elinor moved her arms up and down for emphasize "I look like a mess."

"No you don't. Your hair is gorgeous when it's down, I mean if I had blonde hair like you I would never put it up."

"Well look at my shoes."

"Elinor trust me he won't be looking at your shoes in that dress."

"Really?"

"Really. Now get down stairs before dad runs him over with something worse than his wheelchair. Don't worry about your room I'll clean it. Now GO!"

Elinor didn't have to be told and soon she was outside her fathers' study. She heard her father speaking and waited until he was done to knock at the door.

"Come in!" He sounded angry, but that was the way he always sounded.

"Hi Daddy, I'm sure you like talking to Elliot but I believe we have reservations and you wouldn't want us to be late. Would you?"

"No I wouldn't. You know at first I didn't know why you liked him, but now I think I see why. So you two go have fun."

To say Elinor was shocked would be an understatement, she was speechless. So speechless that Elliot had to lead her out of the room and say goodbye to Elinors' father for her. When they got in the car he looked at her. "Did it really shock you that much that your father liked me?"

"Honestly yes. He doesn't usually like our boyfriends."

" How many boyfriends have you had?"

"Only you, but Annie has had tons."

"Only me?"

"Yeah, I know its embarrasing."

"Why?"

"Why do you think?" _'He isn't really going to do this not tonight'_

"Well I don't know. _**I **_think if _**I**_ were them _**I'd**_ be embarrassed."

"How come?"

"I'd be embarrassed to think I let a girl like you get away."

Elinor hoped he couldn't see that she was blushing. "You're too sweet."

"That's my claim to fame."

Elinor laughed, he always said that, and yet it always made her laugh. "Hey where are you going anyway? I thought the restaurant was in the other direction."

"Oh, it is but we're taking a bit of a detour."

"To where?"

"I can't tell you."

They rode in silence for a few more minutes but the car soon pulled into an empty parking lot with a fence on one side.

"If your trying to be smart I've told you a hundred times it's not going to work."

"Oh I know don't worry. Just get out of the car and close your eyes."

Even thought she didn't know what was going to happen she closed her eyes and let her lead him into wherever they were. It felt like was taking forever but whenever she looked back it seemed like it went by so quickly. "Okay Elinor open your eyes."

As her eyes opened she couldn't believe what she was seeing, they were in the middle of a maze under the most beautiful arch ever, everything was strung up with lights. It was so brilliant she forgot all about Elliot for a moment.

"Elinor."

She looked down he was on one knee and that only meant one thing

"Will you marry me?"

"Yes."

A/N - Okay I hoped you all liked it again if you did please review.


	4. Those Stupid Tests

A/N - Hello Yet again, how many people actually read these things? Okay so I've sped the story up but not that far. I own nothing; do I really have to keep putting this? Well anyway Enjoy!

January 5th 1984

"I can't believe it." Elinor muttered to herself. She had been holding that stupid pregnancy test for almost ten minutes, telling herself she was ready for anything, but she wasn't prepared for the results. She was pregnant.

'_Honestly I don't know why you're so surprised; you've been trying to get pregnant for 13 years. But Elliot, how am I going to tell Elliot. Elinor stop it he's going to be thrilled.'_

That's what Elinor wanted to believe be she wasn't fully convinced. She and Elliot had been married for over 13 years and they had always wanted a baby but now they were both in there mid thirties. The more she thought about it the worse the thoughts became. Until they were so bad she decided she had to take another one of those _stupid_ tests, even if it meant she had to stand there for another ten minutes. You could never be too careful.

Fifteen Test, and the rest of Elinor's patience, Later

'_Oh, Come on, come on. Stop being so dammed slow! Tell me I'm not pregnant.'_

That may have been what Elinor wanted but as she looked down the test read the same as the last 15, positive. She couldn't believe that after 13 years she was finally going to have a baby. She wasn't entirely thrilled, the whole thing hadn't set in yet, but she was still happy. But it wasn't herself she was worried about, it was Elliot. Sure he always wanted children but he, like she, thought it would never happen in a million years. That was when she decided there was only one way to tell Elliot, directly, quickly and honestly, otherwise she might of gone crazy having to wait it out. So Elinor went to find her husband in the place she always found him, in the library.

'_What if he leaves, maybe he doesn't want a child so late in life. Maybe we could put the child up for adoption. Yes that's a good idea, give it to parents who are young and can't have children, but once upon a time you wanted children.'_

"I'm finally losing my mind." She said even though she knew no one could hear her. As she entered the main library she looked around but she didn't see him.

"Elliot?"

"Over here." Came his reply he voice was so quite and it almost sounded as if he was under the red sofa.

"Are you sitting under the sofa?"

"Well I am under the sofa, but I'm not sitting, I'm working."

"On What?"

"Well I thought I head the wood crack so I figured I should check it out."

"Yes I suppose that couch is getting rather old. I mean dad had it for years even before I was born." She was avoiding the subject and she knew it '_Elinor say it, just say it. It's better to tell him now than latter._'

"Is it time for dinner already."

'_Oh shoot!_'

With all this pregnancy stuff she had forgotten all about dinner.

"No, not yet. I came in to talk to you about something."

As she finished her sentence Elliot pulled himself out from under the sofa his looks hadn't changed in the past 13 years, he looked as good as ever. "What?"

"Well it's important."

"Well than sit down." He said but as Elinor began to sit on the sofa he practically yelled "Preferably on something that isn't the sofa."

As she sat down she smiled at him. '_Elinor you've got to be direct_'. "I'm pregnant." Spilled out of her mouth faster than she could even comprehend that fact she'd said it.

"You're what?" He shot up.

"Pregnant."

"With a baby?"

"No with a fish, of course with a baby."

"You mean we're going to have a baby." The words came out his mouth slowly, as if each were a foreign word to him.

"Yes, are you angry?"

"Of course not, why would I be angry?"

"Well we... I mean I'm not exactly young." As she said this Elliot began to laugh "What? What's so funny?"

"You."

"Me?"

"Yes you. You're all worried and yet I don't think I know anyone who would be a better mother."

Elinor couldn't believe it, he was genuinely thrilled and, she could have only taken 1 pregnancy test.

A/N - Did you like it or what? Please review. Hopefully I'll have another chapter done by tomorrow.


	5. Baby Time

A/N - Hello yet again, sorry it took me so long, I've been busy with school. The joys of homework. If anyone cares I own nothing, I wish I did but I don't. This will be a shorter chapter (I recommend if you don't know where babies come from don't read)(also there is a bit of swearing, but the lady is giving birth). Enjoy!

June 17, 1984

"Push Signora, push!"

_How long will this gone on_? _Those bloody books might have mentioned pain but they never mentioned anything this bad. _Elinor had been in labor for almost twelve hours, and although she had heard of women in labor longer, she had had enough.

Thankfully Elliot and Annie were there for she needed all the support she could get. She also needed them there after the doctor had told her she was only 4cms dilated and Elinor tried to hit him, even at nine months pregnant she was quite a force.

"Elinor it's almost over, I'm sure." _Poor Elliot, he's not even pregnant and he's more afraid than I am_. It was true, when Elinor had first told her husband of her pregnancy he was thrilled but now he wasn't quite so sure, he didn't even know how to be a father.

"Push Signora, push!" There was that stupid Doctor again, Elinor was getting tired of him, he was almost as annoying as those damn labor pains. He had been telling her to push for almost a half an hour and still nothing was happening. He had actually mentioned the idea of a c-section but Elinor didn't want that.

"If I push will anything actually happen?"

"Eli! Stop it!" Said Annie, who tried to sound shocked but none the less couldn't help but laugh at her sister, this Doctor was quite stupid so Elinor had a point.

"Of course something will happen!" said the doctor "I've been a Doctor for nearly 30 years."

"Just checking."

"Well you've checked now **Push**!"

Elinor knew what she had to do, she took all that anger from the Doctor and pushed as hard as she could.

That's when she heard it. The cries of a baby, her baby.

"It's a girl."

She was a mother and she honestly didn't know whether to cry or to smile.

"Signor Loredan, Signor Loredan, Nurse we need someone in here please."

In all the excitement of the baby Elinor hadn't heard her husband fall over. If she had she would have laughed, no matter how much she loved him, it was still funny.

********************************************************************************************

"Oh don't worry, it happens all the time." Said the dark haired nurse as she handed Elinor the baby. It had been three hours since her baby was born and she still didn't have a name, Elinor was going to wait for Elliot.

"Yes but all the same it is a bit embarrassing."

"Oh don't be embarrassed. When my son was born my husband fainted, fell on top of a nurse and knocked her out."

"Thank god Elliot didn't do that."

"Thank god I didn't do what?" Elliot was standing in the doorway with his arms folded. The bandage on his head made Elinor laugh.

The nurse excused herself and Elliot walked over and sat on his wife's bed.

"Is it a boy or a girl?"

"_**She's**_ a girl."

"Have you named her yet?"

"No I thought I'd wait for you."

"What were you thinking of?"

"Anna, what about you?"

"Ruby."

"Well those are kind of different."

"I have an idea. How about Rubianna?"

"I like it Rubianna. Rubianna what?"

"How about Rubianna Elinor Loredan."

"You want to name her after… after me?"

"Of course I do, hopefully she'll be just as gorgeous as her mother."

Elinor laughed, she never thought she was gorgeous, and as she did Elliot kissed her.

Now there was Elinor and Elliot and baby made three.

A/N - There finished! SO did you like it? No? Please tell me. A special thanks to Star Inkyness 95, my lone reviewer, hope you liked this chapter.


	6. The Matter Of Walking

A/N - This chapter contains no real important events (aka it's a cute filler chapter). I still hope you all read. The idea has been in my head for the past couple days. I own nothing, if I did this would have been part of the story.

June 1985

To say Elinor Loredan was a protective mother would be an understatement. If Rubianna wasn't with her Elinor would worry herself to the point where she had to check on the girl but, Rubianna was only a year old so she didn't mind her mother constantly checking on her. Rubianna was one of the most gorgeous babies ever, especially if you asked Elinor, she had dark brown hair and beautiful blue eyes. She also had one of the best personalities, she loved everything and everyone. She even loved it when people read to her, which her parents frequently did.

At a year old Rubianna wasn't quite walking yet and while Elinor worried Elliot assured her that "everything will be fine."

"What do you mean everything will be fine? Rubi's a year old and still isn't walking yet. The development book I read said that most babies start walking around 9 to 10 months."

"You know books aren't always right." looking at Elinors shocked face he continued "Besides I was over a year old before I started walking and I'm perfectly fine."

"Are you sure?" Elinor asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Ha Ha very funny."

It was at that time that Rubianna, sitting in her rolling entertainer, came in the room smiling a mile away. She quickly caught the two adults attention. Elinor got off the couch and picked her daughter up. Almost two weeks previous Rubianna had begun talking and ever since it was hard to keep her quiet.

"Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma"

"Hello sweetheart." Elinor didn't know how she got such a sweet daughter "Elliot I have an idea."

"What?" he tried to sound clueless but he already knew what his wife was going to suggest.

"Why don't we try to get Rubi to walk?"

"We've been trying for weeks. I told you when she's ready she'll start walking."

At this Elinor sat her daughter down on the floor like she usually did when she wanted to talk to her husband. "I know what you've said but it can't hurt to push her progress along"

"Maybe it will."

"How?"

"I don't know, I was just offering up a different possibility of what might happen."

"You and your 'different possibilities'. Sometimes I think you say them to annoy me."

"Maybe I do. Maybe I don't."

"Well if you have no real arguments I think we can start."

Elinor looked down expecting to see her daughter but, nothing was there. "Where'd she go?"

"Who?"

"Rubianna, who else?"

"I don't know. Well she can't have gone very far."

At first Elinor and Elliot looked under the sofa and everywhere else around the library but Rubianna wasn't there.

"You don't think she could have been kidnapped do you?"

"Elinor how could she have been kidnapped? We've been right here the entire time. Maybe she just crawled out of the room."

As they walked out of the library they could hear Rubianna but they couldn't see her.

"Where could she be? I hear her but she seems to be ahead of us not behind us. And you put the stair gate up earlier didn't you."

Elliot didn't know what to say "Uh… Maybe I forgot."

"YOU WHAT? Are you saying that right now our child could be falling down stairs as we speak?"

Elinor didn't even wait for his response. '_maybe she hasn't even reached the stairs yet_'. But as she got closer to the stairs Elinor realized that, that wasn't a possibility, she couldn't even see Rubianna.

Elinor didn't know what to expect when she looked down the stairs but she wasn't expecting what she saw. Rubianna was crawling down the stairs and as she reached the last one the girl stood up and began walking.

"Elliot, Elliot come look."

"What? Is she hurt? What's wrong?"

"Nothings wrong look she's walking."

The two looked down to see there daughter who was indeed walking she looked up the stairs, saw her parents and smiled.

"I told you she'd walk when she was ready." Elinor said. And as she did Elliot just rolled his eyes."

A/N - So did you like it? I hope so. Special thanks go to Merciful Heavens, another one of my reviewers, hope you liked it.


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